This double panel is part of the PHC- CEDRE L-MASRAH (Liban - Mémoire des Arts du Spectacle. Recherche, Archives, Histoire) project. It reports on research carried out into archiving practices in the performing arts in Lebanon during the contemporary period, particularly after the 1960s, the period of the emergence of the modern theatrical movement. However, the scope of this panel seeks to encompass performing arts archives in the contemporary Middle East. Its theme crosses questions relating to the nature of different archival practices and their interest, role and function in the process of (re)writing of the historiography of the performing arts. Whether these archives are found or constituted, ‘fabricated'; private or public; disseminated or collected; ‘hidden archives, forgotten archives' or exhibited, what role do they play in the constitution and legitimisation of the history or the histories of the performing arts in the Middle East? 

The eight expected papers will preferably focus on the following perspectives, with an emphasis on case studies:

- Beyond the absence or presence of public archives of the performing arts, what do individuals and institutions in the Middle Eastern theatrical communities do with their archives? In case they do so, why and how do they keep them?
- What do archival practices reveal about the obstacles and challenges faced by institutions and practitioners? Do they reflect the implementation of (counter-) cultural policies and/or strategies for perpetuating theatrical practice?
- What role do archives play in writing the history of the Middle Eastern theatre? What role do they play in creation?
- What do these archives tell us about their contemporaneous ‘theatrical civilisation', sometimes marked by major socio-political, economic and aesthetic controversies and obstacles?
- In the context of war or conflict, can archives preserve the memory of productions, doubly threatened by the ephemeral nature of the theatrical genre?

 We will also examine the use that historiographers of theatre in the Middle East make of archives:

- What challenges do they face in writing theatre history in the light of archives?
- What research practices have been developed in their approach to archives?
- What historiographical gaps have been created by the absence or incompleteness of these archives?

 Proposals for participation in this workshop should include: a title, a summary (500 words) and a brief biography. 

 Key words : Performative studies ; Middle East ; Lebanon ; archives